What is a fractional CFO?

A fractional CFO is a part-time senior finance executive who owns a company’s financial strategy — FP&A, cash flow and runway, fundraising and board reporting — usually a few days a week, giving a founder C-suite financial leadership without a full-time hire.

How much does a fractional CFO cost?

Typically $3,000–$15,000 per month for 5–15 hours a week, roughly $150–$400 an hour. Entry or pre-Series-A engagements start near $3,000–$5,000; senior CFOs running a raise or scaling run $10,000–$15,000+. A full-time CFO costs $250,000–$450,000+ in salary plus equity.

What’s the difference between a fractional CFO and a controller?

A controller owns the books — accounting, the monthly close, compliance and reporting accuracy (backward-looking). A fractional CFO is forward-looking: the model, the forecast, fundraising and the board narrative. They work together — the controller keeps the numbers right; the CFO turns them into decisions.

What’s the difference between a fractional CFO and a bookkeeper?

A bookkeeper records day-to-day transactions and reconciliations. A fractional CFO provides strategic financial leadership — planning, fundraising and board management. A fractional CFO works above your bookkeeper, not in place of them.

How many hours a week does a fractional CFO work?

Usually 5–15 hours a week. It flexes up during a fundraise, board prep or an audit, and down in steady-state months.

Can a fractional CFO help me raise money?

Yes — fundraising support is one of the most common reasons to hire one. A fractional CFO builds the model, prepares the data room and metrics, and helps tell the financial story to investors throughout a round.

Role guide

Fractional CFO (Chief Financial Officer)

A fractional CFO is a part-time, senior finance executive — a Chief Financial Officer who works with your company a few days a week instead of full-time. They own financial strategy: FP&A, cash flow and runway, fundraising and investor reporting, and the financial model behind your growth. Unlike a bookkeeper or controller who keep the books accurate, a fractional CFO is forward-looking — turning the numbers into decisions. Engagements typically run 5–15 hours a week, around $3,000–$15,000 per month.

How it compares

Fractional CFO vs full-time, a controller, a bookkeeper & CFO-as-a-Service

How a fractional CFO compares to a full-time CFO, a controller, a bookkeeper and CFO-as-a-Service
Role	Primary focus	Commitment	Typical cost	Best for
Fractional CFO	Forward-looking financial strategy: FP&A, runway, fundraising and board reporting, part-time	Embedded, 5–15 hrs/week, ongoing	$3–15k/mo	Startups raising or scaling that need a CFO but not full-time
Full-time CFO	Owns and runs the entire finance org full-time	40+ hrs/week, permanent	$250–450k+ salary + equity	Companies past ~$30–50M revenue or on a late-stage / public track
Controller	Owns the books — accounting, the close, compliance and reporting accuracy (backward-looking)	Full or part-time	$90–160k salary or $3–8k/mo	A company that needs accurate books, not financial strategy
Bookkeeper	Day-to-day transactions, reconciliations, AP/AR	Part-time / outsourced	$500–2.5k/mo	Early-stage recording of transactions
CFO-as-a-Service	A firm bundles bookkeeping, controller and some CFO advisory	Vendor relationship, productized	$2–10k/mo	Outsourcing the whole finance stack to one vendor

A fractional CFO is forward-looking financial strategy. A controller and a bookkeeper keep the books accurate, a full-time CFO is the scaled-up version, and CFO-as-a-Service bundles the finance stack into one vendor.

Sorting out finance versus operations? See our fractional COO guide.

Building a startup? See our fractional CFO for startups guide.

What it costs

What a fractional CFO costs

$3,000–$15,000 / month

Typical retainer

5–15 hours / week

Typical commitment

Most fractional CFOs work on a monthly retainer of $3,000–$15,000 for 5–15 hours a week, roughly $150–$400 an hour. Entry-level or pre-Series-A engagements start around $3,000–$5,000 a month; senior CFOs running a fundraise or scaling a $5–20M ARR company run $10,000–$15,000+. That’s a fraction of a full-time CFO, who typically costs $250,000–$450,000+ in salary plus equity. You’re buying financial judgment — the model, the raise and the board narrative — not bookkeeping.

Specializations

Fractional CFO specializations

Common fractional CFO specializations
Specialization	Focus	Primary outcomes	Best-fit company
Fundraising / venture	Round prep, the financial model, cap table, data room and investor reporting	A closed round and investor-ready reporting	Startups raising a seed–Series B round
FP&A / operational finance	Budgeting, forecasting, unit economics and KPI dashboards	A forecast and metrics the whole team runs on	Post-revenue startups professionalizing finance
SaaS metrics	ARR, churn, CAC/LTV, cohorts and ASC 606 revenue recognition	Clean SaaS metrics the board and investors trust	B2B SaaS at $1–20M ARR
Turnaround / cash flow management	Runway extension, cash flow management, restructuring and scenario planning	A stabilized balance sheet and a credible plan	Companies tight on runway or restructuring
M&A / exit prep	Sell-side prep, due-diligence readiness, quality of earnings and transaction support	A diligence-ready company and a clean process	Companies preparing to sell or be acquired

Match the specialization to your moment — a fundraise, an FP&A buildout, a cash crunch or an exit. Most fractional CFOs go deep in one or two of these, not all five.

SaaS specialization

Fractional CFO for SaaS Startups

SaaS is the single most common specialization request on this page, and the metrics are different from a generic financial model. A SaaS-focused fractional CFO — the same work whether you call it a fractional CFO for SaaS, tech startups or B2B SaaS — owns:

ARR and MRR, tracked cleanly by cohort, not just as a lagging total
Net revenue retention, the number investors check before anything else
CAC and LTV, and whether the ratio actually supports the growth plan
Burn multiple: how much cash you’re burning per dollar of new ARR
Rule of 40: growth rate plus profit margin, the shorthand board members use to sanity-check the business

A board-ready SaaS metrics package pulls these into one dashboard your investors already know how to read, instead of a spreadsheet they have to reverse-engineer every quarter. The $1–20M ARR range is where this work has the most leverage: early enough that clean metrics still shape strategy, established enough that the numbers are complex enough to need one.

Fundraising

Fundraising Support

Fundraising is one of the most common reasons to bring on a fractional CFO, and the work looks different by stage.

Pre-seed

A lightweight model and a clean cap table, enough to answer investor questions without a full data room.

Seed

The financial model matures, plus early KPI tracking so you can show initial traction.

Series A

A full data room, cohort-level SaaS metrics where relevant, and a board-ready narrative connecting the numbers to the raise.

Series B

More sophisticated forecasting, unit economics investors will stress-test, and often a shift toward multi-year planning.

Series C and later

Preparing for the scrutiny of institutional and late-stage investors — closer to what a full-time CFO or an M&A-prep engagement looks like.

Across every stage, the core work is the same: the deck financials, the data room, the cap table, and prepping you for investor Q&A before it happens live. This shows up especially often for fintech companies, where investors expect financial rigor most other seed-stage startups don’t need yet.

Questions

Frequently asked

How to hire

How to Hire a Fractional CFO

Most founders start looking when they’re raising a round, passing roughly $1M ARR, standing up a board or investor reporting cadence, or extending runway — the moment a bookkeeper’s numbers stop being enough to make decisions on. Once you know it’s time, hiring well comes down to five steps.

Scope the role first

Decide the hours per week (most engagements run 5–15) and the focus area: a raise, an FP&A buildout, cash flow management, or all three. A vague scope is the most common reason a fractional CFO search stalls.

Choose where to source

A vetted marketplace surfaces pre-screened candidates fast. A recruiter costs more but can run a wider search. A referral is fastest when you trust the source, but you’re skipping the vetting step yourself.

Ask the right questions on the first call

What similar-stage companies have they worked with? What’s their fundraising track record? How do they handle a board meeting when the numbers are bad? The answers tell you more than a resume does.

Start with a trial engagement

Most fractional CFOs will run a 60–90 day trial before a longer retainer. Use it to confirm they fit your team and your numbers before committing further.

Understand how rates get set

Rates track hours per week, seniority, and whether you’re mid-raise or in steady state. Entry-level or pre-Series-A work starts around $3,000–$5,000 a month; a CFO running a raise or scaling a $5–20M ARR company runs $10,000–$15,000+.

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